3 years and I can finally put some photos up.Here's some from last years play, Zero Balans which is being revived next month.

Photo courtesy of dmcgarry@imagecity.com

April 5, 20 12. A shot from Janis ia Nao (Now's our Chance!) during a rollicking run through last week. If they appear to be looking away from the seating, they're not. Theatre is set up as an alleyway.

All three productions nearing completion. Janis ia Nao; Zero Balans and the youth group play. Not to mention Health force's revival of their diabetes play. The title of which i have forgotten. Fascinating discussion at an organisational meeting about Nutrition. We'd met to propose that anyone wishing to sell food at the centre had to have it approved by the nutrition department/centre. A lot of junk being sold. Fascinating what people don't know. A great discussion around vetsin (MSG). Much amazement that when you add vetsin...and soy sauce...and salt you are actually adding salt times 3!!! One group member asked well if you shouldn't add vetsin, how do you make your food taste good?

The youth play, Whu nao I rong? has had a couple of previews. The most touching was for WSB actors. It being in the round, the company made a very intimate, one row circle audience. It was the first time we’d had the youth perform exclusively for the company, which is a poor reflection on our inclusiveness of the youth drama club. It was beautiful and the hardened pros were visibly moved. There is a sprinkling of very good actors in the youth club and some very young not very good ones but the overall impact of 25 kids of school going age, but not in school, telling us their story in song dance and drama has an impact that more polished stuff sometimes doesn’t.

It is a struggle keeping that group together. There are some wild kids. Every rehearsal seems littered with thumps usually boys on boys but sometimes on girls, either part in jest or vague annoyance. It is impossible to keep the company quiet when it’s offstage and yet its vibrancy and basic love of what they are doing is equally visible. Given that the play isn’t very kind to parents I asked whether they still wanted a show for their parents; perhaps it would make them cross I suggested. ‘No they have to come’ was the chorused response. ‘ We want them to understand! ‘ So, that show is tonight. Hopefully they will be so thrilled to see their children on stage, the content will sort of pass them by!

Photo courtesy of dmcgarry@imagecity.com

There are some sad stories. For most, school finished before the end of primary and the youth centre has become their second home. My involvement with the youth has come at the same time as my youngest daughter has been doing her teaching practice in quite a tough Melbourne school. The stories she tells us on skype of student dysfunction, difficult home lives and aggression towards teachers are heart breaking and between the two groups I feel a keen sense of how we seem to cast so many youth on to the scrap heap whatever our country’s level of wealth.

Sunday morning and we had the opening for parents on Thursday evening. They did it well .The poor parents though; they had to sit through 40 minutes of saying how half the kids problems were caused by their rowing, beating parents. I enjoyed talking to the parents afterwards. ‘Ooh the play’s a good lesson for all us parents….’ And I felt the play was suddenly very unfair. I mean their own parents probably treated them exactly the same way and it’s not as if their own lives are any easier. Trying to earn even minimum wage would occupy most of their lives. Yet they also said things like, ‘ I didn’t know my son could do anything like this’. ‘I thought they were just messing around at the youth centre, I didn’t realize they learnt things.’

I laid into the main group after the run through of Zero Balans. Reviving plays can be boring for both actors and directors but its not made any easier by actor pissing around thinking the director can’t see what they’re doing. Why should I sit here and watch this for the 60^th time for over 2 hours if you cant be bothered to …etetc. Nice way to go into Easter!